A huge point of discussion during the Champions Trophy 2025 has been whether Team India got an advantage due to playing all of their games in Dubai. India played all their games at a neutral venue after they did not travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, and several experts stated that it was an unfair advantage given to them. However, Pakistan legend Wasim Akram has stated that it would not have made a difference even if India had travelled to Pakistan for the tournament.
“This Indian team would have won it anywhere in the world,” Akram said, speaking in the Dressing Room show on the Sports Central channel.
“Yes, there were a lot of talks once it was decided that India would play all of their matches in Dubai. But had they played in Pakistan, they would have won there as well,” Akram stated.
Akram pointed to the fact that India won both the T20 World Cup 2024 and the Champions Trophy 2025 without losing a single game, and as such, they were always well-shaped to win the tournament no matter where they played.
“They won the 2024 T20 World Cup without losing a game, they went on to win the Champions Trophy without losing even one game which shows the depth in their cricket, that shows the leadership,” Akram added.
The Champions Trophy 2025 victory comes after India had suffered humiliating Test defeats both at home (0-3 against New Zealand) and away (1-3 against Australia). However, despite severe scrutiny, Team India persisted with the combination of Rohit Sharma as captain and Gautam Gambhir as head coach.
Akram praised India for making the “sane” decision, saying that it helped them win in the end.
“If you remember, they lost 3-0 to New Zealand in the Test series at home, lost the Border-Gavaskar trophy, and lost the series in Sri Lanka. They were under pressure to remove the captain, the coach but sanity prevailed. BCCI backed them, said ‘this is our captain, this is our coach’ and now they are the champion of the champions,” said Akram.
Team India have now won eight ODIs in a row. Starting with a 3-0 series win against England, India carried on that form into the Champions Trophy, where they beat Bangladesh, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand twice en route to the title.
India next play international cricket in June, after IPL 2025, when they take on England in England in a five-match Test series.
